Alabama professor to direct episode of Oprah-produced show ‘Queen Sugar’

A University of Alabama professor will soon direct an episode of the popular drama series “Queen Sugar.”

Rachel Raimist, a professor of journalism and creative media at UA, will shoot the episode in New Orleans this month.

Created by “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time” director Ava DuVernay, the series follows the life of three siblings, who move to Louisiana to claim an inheritance from their recently departed father, an 800-acre sugarcane farm in Louisiana.

Oprah Winfrey serves as executive producer on the show, which airs on her OWN network.

Directing the episode will place Raimist in the Directors Guild of America. The series has featured all women directors over its three seasons.

“I have made independent films and documentaries, but for a long time I thought that breaking in to television might not be possible,” Raimist said, according to a UA release. “DuVernay has been intentional about giving opportunities to first-time television directors from legendary independent film directors like Julie Dash, Cheryl Dunye and Patricia Cardoso to new directors with recent festival wins and folks like me who don’t fit into either of these categories.”

Raimist will direct episode 311, called “Your Passages Have Been Paid.”

“Queen Sugar” won two NAACP Image Awards in 2017, including outstanding drama series and outstanding writing in a dramatic series.

Watch the trailer for season three below: